Keep Them Close
by Jclimactic
Summary: Captain Beckett takes door number three. Her intentions to push freinds and family away fell by the wayside, her need for both freinds and justice overcome her. Keep your freinds close, and things may not work out how you wish.
1. XX

**A/N: Mistakes are mine, no beta. Wrote this today, likely to be 3 chapters. I will post as soon as they are done, no reason to drag this out.**

Today was turning into quite the mundane day. Ryan and Esposito were off chasing down leads, boring, cold case leads that Castle had no interest in being involved in. A more relaxing work day for Kate at least, if she didn't constantly have to fight to keep Castle away.

Vikram was off chasing one of their leads, not wanting to use precinct computers to hack the NSA and AG databases. They were only just over a week into the investigation, but they were making some progress; the LockSat team seemed to have made some mistakes and those were to be exploited. They had a photo now.

"Captain Beckett?"

Beckett looked up from the paperwork she was finalizing, "Yes?"

"An envelope was just delivered by courier at the front desk. It looks clean Ma'am." The uniformed officer dropped the padded, Manila envelope on her desk and exited her office.

Tearing open the seam Beckett dumped out the contents onto her desk, a flip-phone, and a single pieces of paper. With a sudden sense of dread she unfolded the note:

"They are coming. Leave NOW."

The tiniest moment of shock ran through her, where had she slipped up? Let LockSat know she was hunting him? Surely it was LockSat she was being warned about here. This must be a message from Rita, or Smith; what other explanation could there be?

With a sudden sense of urgency, she reached into her desk draw for her service weapon; dropping her own phone in its place and pocketing what was presumably a burner phone her pocket. She grabbed a'll the cash from her wallet, her credentials too; but left everything else.

Moving quickly now Beckett rounded her desk, and started heading towards the stairs, planning on exit through the rear of the precinct, a predictable strategy, but far better than exiting through the front door.

One of her now numerous detectives slammed down his phone, jumped to his feet and turned with a shocked expression on his face. He caught sight of her just before she made it around the corner out of the bullpen.

"Captain Beckett! Ma'am!"

She kept her head down, planning on ignoring the yelling behind her; flight the priority now. The run of the mill work of running the precinct would have to wait for now, take a back seat to other needs.

"Captain Beckett! There's been an explosion!"

Castle. She spun around, barking out the question, "Where?"

"The west side highway ma'am."

Not Castle.

"Let Ryan and Esposito coordinate the response if it's in our patch. I have a meeting at 1PP." She started heading away again.

"It was their unit ma'am. A car bomb."

Time stopped. It had to be a coincidence, they didn't know anything. They could have been targeted by any number of people they'd arrested or convicted over the years, there was always a risk of an officer or their family being targeted. The hanging threat of disgruntled ex-convicts seeking revenge. It was a bubbling fear they all lived with every day.

It had to simply be coincidence, and she could do nothing to give them justice if LockSat had her killed. She had to run now. Fight back for them later.

"Who's responding?"

"The 1-5 ma'am. They have units on scene. They IDed the vehicle."

"Keep me up to date. The 1-5 has the lead."

"Yes ma'am Captain Beckett." Was the last thing she heard as she started down the stairs. She was blind now she knew, her phone and only way for them to contact her abandoned in her desk.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Beckett had walked 2 blocks from the rear of the 12th precinct, heart in her mouth, pulse pounding, before she took a moment to pause and regroup. She need to change her look, disappear. Since all this has started her had taken to carry a large sum of cash, plastic being far to easy to trace. She'd planned ahead for this day, just in case; was far better prepared than when she had to run after the Vulcan Simmons incident.

Where to run? Nothing connected to her, or anyone close to her; and the last unconnected safe house had been tracked in mere hours.

Beckett flipped open the burner phone, took a chance and hit redial.

"Hello.." A female voice. Rita to the rescue again apparently.

"Rita…" It was good to say a familiar name.

"No names!" Beckett could hear the exasperation through the phone line.

"What.." She wanted answers, now, but was interrupted before she could even really ask for them.

"Bond. The Strand. One hour." A clipped tone.

"I have to warn Vikram." Nobody else knew anything, but her confidante was clearly in danger if their operation had been blown.

"They are being taken care of. Bond. The Strand. One hour."

Click.

One hour to the meeting, time enough to change appearance. Beckett stepped up to the curb and flagged down a passing yellow cab.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Exiting the cab at Union Square Beckett immediately became more comfortable again. Mere blocks form her meeting at The Strand, and close to all the places she recalled from her time at NYU it was a familiar zone. While familiarity was danger, it was safety too – she knew this area better than any out of town hit squad was likely to know it. The alleys, the street layout. It was not a bad place to hide in plain sight, but only for the short term. Long enough to change her look at least.

She now had 45 minutes, that meant no time to deal with hair, a hat would have to do. She headed in to to H&M. Not her normal up-market style, but generic and boring – and a far better look to blend in with than Burberry.

Another 30 minutes later she exited the store, in an outfit she was uncomfortable with for a multitude of reasons. Beckett had dumped all of her clothing in the trash to both change her look, and remove the possibility of a tracking device. She took one brief moment to smile at the situation, if it had been Lanie going commando and bra-less she'd be drawing eyes not avoiding attention. Cheap sunglasses and a red beanie to hide much of her hair, and Beckett considered the changes material enough to buy valuable seconds if not more.

Three blocks to go in 15 minutes. Plenty of time, and plenty of time to watch how went in and out of her meeting place for a little while. To check if there were any large SUVs parked on the street or in nearby alleys.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Beckett had checked out the block, wandered the stacks, and had noticed nothing out of the ordinary. The Stand had been a favorite book store for her when younger, in her NYU days, a warren of shelves, dark, quiet. More than that though, it was where she had first met Richard Castle, standing for hours in line to get her book signed. Now, here she was again, waiting in line for another meeting that may change her life again: for better or worse remained to be seen.

She scanned the book shelves as she paced through the stacks, running her finger along the shelves, past A, to B, to C. Castle. Kate gently stroked the single copy of Heat Wave, the book that had so annoyed her at first. She didn't have time now, to think about him, to be distracted; she had to move on. D, E, F. Fleming. She pulled out the first copy of Casino Royale and flipped open the cover. Nothing.

"Just how stupid are you Kate?"

Beckett spun to find Rita standing behind her, she hadn't heard even a single footstep.

"What?" Beckett's heart was thundering again, surprise forcing the brevity of her response.

Rita was looking at her like a disappointed parent, not quite shaking her head, but nonetheless seemingly looking down her nose at her.

"Ryan and Esposito. That's on you Beckett. I warned you. But you didn't listen."

Beckett hadn't even had time to mourn, and was now being blamed for deaths she had nothing to do with. She was getting riled up, spoiling for a fight. "Now wait a damn minute! They knew nothing, I didn't involve them..."

"You went looking for LockSat, and you kept two of the men who helped you bring down Bracken sitting right outside your office as you did it."

The allegation stung, "But..."

"Did you really think LockSat would check what they knew? Give people the benefit of the doubt? McCord's team didn't know anything really, but he had them all killed just on the chance they might eventually. You kept those two close, and you kept them in the dark; but LockSat doesn't like to take chances. Kill them and he removes the risk of what you might have told them. Loose ends get cleaned up."

She'd thought this through, it didn't make sense, her plan was better than that, or so she had thought, "I don't understand! How did he even know I was looking into it, as far as he knew I believed the Allison Hyde coverup."

"Kate, sometimes your trade craft impresses me. I went back over your safe house later, after; the glass in the corridor at your safe house, very clever. And sometimes your stupidity amazes me. You hired Vikram! Why would he join the NYPD from the Attorney Generals office? A demotion and a pay cut? Move cities? Maybe he did it because you saved his life, but that seems above and beyond. You think LockSat would believe that? More likely because you both wanted to continue the hunt. He doesn't take chances. He's paranoid, people are out to get him. Then you left your husband and started sneaking off to a storage locker in the middle of the night. I mean, really?"

Beckett was a little taken aback, this was a lot to take in, perhaps the plan had not been as discreet as she'd believed.

"Wait! How do you know about the storage locker? That's where Vikram is!"

Rita practically rolled her eyes, "You mean the locker you drive to in your GPS tracked NYPD cruiser? You really think you weren't being monitored? Vikram can hack the NSA, but LockSat can't have the NYPD GPS system hacked?"

Beckett hesitated, "Is Vikram..."

"I told you, he's being taken care of. His funeral arrangements at least. There was a fire a few hours ago at your locker. How do you think I knew they were coming for you?"

Kate slumped slightly, having to lean on the book shelves to remain upright. Ryan. Espo. Vikram. Dare she even ask?

Rita reached out to grab her arm, and began pulling her out of the stacks, "We have to go. Now."

Her voice was soft, dreading the response, "Castle? Is he ok?"

Rita practically laughed as she continued to tug Beckett from the bookstore, "You're worried about him now? There are Instagram pictures of the two of you at a fraternity party two days ago Beckett. You just closed a case together. You moved out, but without stopping working together, being seen together, getting handy in the precinct, that's all worthless. Even that might not have been enough."

"He's hard to control, it's not like it's easy." Beckett was feeling utterly drained, and the though of Castle being in danger was not helping at all.

The responding tone was impatient, accompanied by tugging on Beckett's arm, "This is not kiddie theater Kate. You wanted to push him away, don't do it like a little girl on the playground. Restraining order, public divorce, ban him from your precinct, suspend anyone who works with him; if you'd wanted him away from you, then you could have made it happen. You didn't. You chose to let him stay close, you chose to let him be in danger."

Beckett tried to jerk her arm free as she responded angrily, "That's not fair!"

Resistance was ignored, and the pulling continued, "Yes it is. But it's water under the bridge now. He's should be safe for now. Hunt went for him."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

They'd made it to a car Rita had stashed around the corner form The Strand, and were moving slowly away from lower Manhattan. Beckett's mind was churning, she was still trying to grasp just how badly everything had turned out. To make matters worse, Rita was refusing to say anything more about Castle's situation. He was with Hunt, but was he safe? On the run like her? Had he already been hurt?

"What do you have Beckett? What have you found so far?" Rita's questioning shook her out of the partial daze she had fallen into.

"We, Vikram, tracked down a photo of man behind the Allison Stage staging. He's not on the books anywhere, facial recognition came up empty."

Rita guffawed. "You ran a database search when this whole thing started because of a database search? Are you insane Beckett? You thought not having you name tied to it would mean LockSat would presume some random other person was running it? He's watching you Kate."

"Vikram hacked the database, we didn't put an official search through. Give me some credit here." Beckett was getting a little exasperated at being treated like a complete idiot, and it was starting to come across in her tone too.

Rita took a slightly more conciliatory approach, apparently not wanting to aggravate Her too much. "That's good Kate, or better at least, but you do realize the whole thing was a baited trap right?"

Beckett's tone took on a harder edge, the work, the sacrifice she had made was being treated as nothing, "What are you taking about Rita? We had to dig for that picture."

"The LockSat people killed Bracken in federal prison without a trace, and you think they got careless covering up the Allison Hyde murder? No ball cap, no sunglasses, just a clean facial shot on a security camera he knew was there. Ok."

Rita took a deeper breath, "Kate, the picture you have was left deliberately. They don't make mistakes so carelessly. These are not your usual jealous murderers. If you dug, found it, went after the man in it, then it proves you don't believe the cover up and they know they need to silence you. Go after that man and he will kill you. If you kill him, well that still tells them you are on to them."

"He was left out there as the bait to trap you. The whole thing stinks of set-up Beckett. That said, you made it so easy they knew before that. Hiring Vikram just accelerated the inevitable."

Beckett twisted in her seat, turning slight to be able to see Rita's profile more closely as she asked her next question, "Why does it seem like you're interrogating me Rita? Attacking me?"

"I need to know what you know. Simple as that."

"The why explain everything to me? Why treat me like an incompetent rookie? If you want information, ask for it."

"I want you to trust me Kate, I'm trying to help you, help us, understand what's going on. Quid pro quo, I tell you things, you tell me what you know."

"If you don't believe I trust you by now Rita how am I supposed to convince you? I blew up my marriage on your advice." There was the slightest crack in her voice there, even Kate could hear it herself.

Rita reached out and gave Kate's slightly clenched fist a squeeze, "That's true, true."

Kate was still angry, she'd made herself a target, she knew that, embraced it even, but then they'd gone after everyone else. "Quid pro quo goes both way Rita, why did they go for everyone else first? Aren't I the threat?"

Rita's eyes never seemed to stop scanning their surrounding, with only the occasional glance at Kate, "They are good, not crazy, they're not going to waltz into a heavily armed police precinct; they needed you out of the precinct first."

Saved by the incredibly lucky coincidental warming once again though Kate, "But you got to me first, warned me. That saved my life. Again."

"Got a deja vu feeling here Beckett? Like you've done all this before?" There was actually a smile behind those words, almost laughter at the absurdity of the situation.

"Why weren't they waiting outside?"

A quick glance from Rita and a small smirk, "Who says there wasn't anyone outside? I'm pretty good at this Kate."

"Thank you Rita, I don't know where I'd be without your help."

They drove for a few moments in quiet, letting everything sink in, before Rita broke the silence, "Kate, where would Castle go if he got separated from Hunt? Where would he hide if he had to run by himself? You know him. Think."

Kate felt a flash on panic, "Separated from Hunt? You said he was with Hunt!" He could be in danger after all, and that was more than she wanted to face right now.

"He should be, but if a squad went after them, Hunt would hold them off while Castle escaped."

"New York Public Library. He'd go there, he hid there before; but only I know."

Rita nodded, and changed lanes, "Ok Kate. Let's go get him."


	2. XY

**A/N: A surprisingly more positive response than I expected to the piece. I guess I have t been around here much recently, and the tide has definitely turned. I apologize for the typos and such, but if the writers can be so careless with details, the so can I.**

"Richard Castle, PI extraordinaire, was bored, very very very bored. His trusty sidekicks were off on a wild goose chase seeking the final resting place of the Cufflinks of Dooooooooom! Missing for the last 20 years from an almost forgotten victim. His Moll was sequestered inside her fortress of solitude, denying..."

"Dad? What are you doing?"

Castle jerked upright, almost tipping his chair over backward, it was his little angel. No. NO! Not angel. Never angel again. Eeeew.

"Hi Pumpkin. What are you doing here?"

Alexis stopped abruptly, staring at her father with her head tipped to the side in confusion, "Dad, why aren't you wearing pants?"

Scrambling rapidly around his desk, Castle retreated into the back office, "I spilled coffee, my favorite mug just cracked for no reason. They're drying in the back."

Rolling her eyes was almost an ingrained instinct, she didn't try to fight it, "Maybe you should keep some spare clothes here?"

Voice taking on a gentler tone, she continued, "I know you've been sleeping here some nights; not wanting to sleep at home alone."

There was silence from the back now, no voice, no movement, Alexis stepped towards the doorway before the voice returned, a serious voice. "I don't understand Alexis, something doesn't add up. She says she still loves me, but she walked out. Kyra walked out, told me later that she expect me to follow. To win her back. I try the same with Beckett, with Kate, and she just keeps pushing me away."

"She wants space dad. When I moved with Pi, I needed space. You hated it then too, but I came home eventually."

Castle smiled a shook his head, "My daughter growing up and moving out is a little different than my wife walking out on our marriage don't you think? I thought we were past this. Something just doesn't make sense! There's always a story Alexis, and this one seems very incomplete."

Alexis couldn't help but smile at that, "If there's part of the story missing dad, I know you'll figure it out."

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

"If one is good, two is better," Castle muttered to himself as he unpacked the box in the back office.

Pressing down to activate the second device Castle queried, "Lucy? Can you connect to a monitor screen?"

"I'm sorry Rick, I can't do that."

Wait! Rick? "Lucy? How do you know my name?"

"I was preconfigured at the place of my manufacturer. Your express order came with perks."

Rubbing his hands together Castle almost cackled with glee, "Egggggcelllent. But can you do the screen?"

A pause. She was totally playing with him, "Of course."

After more fiddling with wires than should have been necessary to rebuild the international space station, everything was ready to go, "Give me a time line Lucy."

"Okay Rick, a time line of what? The battle of Thermopylae?"

That was snark. That was definitely snark.

"Your divorces? I am networked with your home device. She has the list of divorce attorneys and has shared with me. Perhaps you should buy a bulk pass?"

Castle had been told he looked like a confused puppy when he pulled a certain face. He knew he was doing it now. But seriously. Lucy deserved it. Even if she couldn't see it.

"No. Of Beckett walking out on me."

"I understand." She sounded a little lest joking there. Good. He'd successfully made a computer feel sorry for him. "I need a little more to go on here."

An hour later. It had take an hour to get all the data into Lucy, and the screen now looked like Shelob had thrown up a family sized spaghetti dinner on it.

Blunt, he'd try blunt first, "So Lucy, why did my wife leave me?"

A quick response, apparently one not requiring much processing, "Because you lied to her?"

His turn to pause, but no, "Ancient history. Plus she said it wasn't anything I did. It was all her."

Lucy sounded as if she was speaking to a five year old, "She could be lying to you."

"She promised no more secrets. Right before she left, promised me she wasn't keeping a secret."

"Do you believe her? Do you trust her?"

That was cause for a pause, did he trust her? That she wasn't lying? That out of the blue she suddenly just needed time!? "No. I don't. I don't know that I can anymore. She's definitely lying about something Lucy. Or at least hiding something from me."

"She could be lying about it not being you."

Ah. Ok. Point to the annoying computer. "That's a fair point..."

"Lucy 1, Rick is a big fat zero."

"Shut up Lucy. Focus!"

"You're telling me to focus?"

Castle pondered, that was not a second point for the stupid computer, no way, no how, "That just doesn't make sense as story flow Lucy. Why now? That's the question I need to solve."

"You had just resolved her disappearance, so logically it is connected."

Right, Castle pondered, it had to be connected, completely out of left field made no sense, "Her running, the death squads, it was all resolved by the death of Allison Hyde."

"Why would she kill herself then Rick? She had gotten away."

"True, but we were on to her." But then why wouldn't she just run off a retire with her ill gotten gains?

"If she thought she was caught wouldn't she just run to a non extradition country? Live off her ill gotten gains?"

There was a mind meld here, Castle was one with a computer. A pity that didn't apply to his Destiny gameplay.

There was flaw here though, "Why would she use her own personal cell phone to contact her pet death squads. That doesn't make sense. Burner phones are cheap."

"Unless she was being framed Rick."

"As Beckett was for Vulcan Simmons. That would explain the careless behavior. The use of a cell phone too easily traced."

"You told me Bracken tried to fake Beckett's suicide during that period."

"Yes he did."

"Bracken and LockSat are connect. Logically know the same tricks."

"Yes. Fake a suicide in a chair, straps, removed after..."

Castle abruptly stood, arms in touchdown position. That was it. Allison Hyde had been murdered. LockSat was still out there. Beckett was after him.

"LockSat isn't dead. Beckett is still after him, trying to keep it secret. She lied to me, right to my face. She's chosen the chase over us. Bracken was right. It's deja vu all over agin."

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

Castle was an excellent shot, but he always used ear protection at the range to practice. He'd been around live fire without such protection many times, and it was always shocking just how loud even a single shot was.

Those weren't single shots though, it sounded like Mount St Helens was erupting in his office.

Barely audible, but Lucy spoke up with, "I advise taking cover."

Castle sprang into action, more lumbered to be fair, but he wasn't as young as he used to be. Really though, it was the surprise, he was caught by surprise. That's why his reactions were slow. Not because he was old.

They say when you die, your life flashes before your eyes. Well this was different. He'd experienced it before, when then found the bloody van after Alexis's kidnapping. His daughter was out there. With the gun fire. He stumbled, before moving forward once again. More determined now.

"Son! Get out here, we have to go. There'll be more, never just one team."

As Castle stepped out into the main office, he didn't even truly see his father, stood facing away, guarding the entrance to the office suite.

No.

No.

NO!

All he could see was the splash of orange, the puddle of hair spread almost carefully across the carpet behind his desk.

No. It couldn't be.

Her hand was wrapped around the hilt of his pistol. She'd made it. It obviously hadn't helped.

His pumpkin was dead.

What had happened?

Broken, he spoke, "What is going on?"

His father, who he'd first met rescuing Alexis, spoke in a clipped tone, not looking his way, "LockSat is cleaning house. We have to go."

"Alexis is dead." Life didn't compute.

"Yes, and your wife brought this trouble to your door."

Beckett. Beckett's chase had brought death to them?

"We have to go NOW."

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

They'd barely made it 10 feet towards the elevator before the gun fire started again. Hunt was operating double fisted now, and Castle adding to the raucous noise too. There was a second team.

"Go. I'll hold them off! Get to where we first met."

Hunt gave him a shove, pushed him towards the stairwell, "I'll catch up with you later."

Castle almost tripped, point and shoot he could do, but walking away was apparently a challenge. He was stumbling down the stairs as quickly as possible, without breaking his neck. His father wanted him to go to the New York Public Library. He has to warn people though? Surely that was the right thing to do. He pulled out his phone.

Beckett. Voicemail. She hadn't been taking his calls recently anyway. Apparently chasing LockSat was more important.

Alexis. Voicemail... He still hadn't processed it. Alexis was gone. Forever.

His mother. Voicemail. But she never answered it while she was teaching a class anyway.

Ryan. Voicemail.

Esposito. Voicemail. He was probably screening Castle's calls.

Lanie.

"Castle." Her voice sounded completely broken. She was crying, sobbing even, gulping breaths.

"Lanie..."

"Javier is gone Castle. He's dead." She sounded like she was hyperventilating. He wasn't surprised.

He didn't know what to say, Lanie filled the space for him, "Kevin to."

All his friends were dying... and his daughter. He could barely speak, it was all hitting home now, "Alexis, she's..."

"I'm sorry Castle, everything has gone so wrong."

"Beckett opened Pandora's box, and we have to pay."

"Kate is involved in this?"

"Yes. You're her best friend, they'll suspect you know things. You have to leave town now Lanie. Immediately."

"I know, I'm on my wa..."

The loud crack was distinctive, the clatter of the phone onto the floor even more telling.

Castle dropped his phone and ran. Down, down, down. Sinking ever lower into the bowels of his building and the darkness it held.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

He had moved quickly, almost is a daze, hopped two different cabs to reach his destination as discreetly as he could. Castle scampered up the stairs to the door and slipped through. Made it. Now to the next phase.

"Mother!"

He was supposed to go to the library, meet his father, be safe; but he couldn't leave family, what was left of it.

There was rustling from one of the rooms, and some muffled swearing, "Richard?"

Rushing towards the sound of her voice, "Mother, we have to go, get changed. Something dull. Not you!"

He couldn't tell her, not yet, she'd breakdown, where he was barely holding it together already. A pile of blubbering Rogers' on the floor would result in just two more dead bodies.

Martha's head popped up from behind a clothes rack, "What? Do you need an actress for a scavenger hunt?"

She saw his expression then, his eyes, this wasn't her playful son, this was something else, "No, not that, what's going on Richard?"

"We need to get changed and go Mother, leave everything, we are going somewhere safe." Castle started stripping off clothes, and pulling costume pieces from the racks for himself.

"Where's Alexis?"

He almost collapsed, "She's not coming. I'll explain later, we don't have time."

Fighting every step, every word, every step of the way Castle eventually got what he needed. His mother in jeans and a t-shirt, down the stairs and across the street.

"We need a burner phone mother, and then we are in the go to somewhere safe."

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

They were in the back of their fifth cab, cris-crossing the city trying to shake any tail they had picked up. His mother crying broken sob into his shoulder, he'd explained what little he knew; all that had mattered to Martha was the loss of Alexis, she'd stop listening after that. He was out of tears now; for now at least, more would come later, and later, and for the rest of his life.

Castle knew he was supposed to be heading to the New York Public Library, the clue his father had given him, where to meet up again after they were separated. He couldn't share the feeling though, something was off, something gave him pause about taking that course.

Hunt had come to rescue Alexis, but had not made any appearance when Castle had been missing for months. No appearance that Beckett has admitted that least, and not hew as unsure how much weight he could give to that knowledge. Perhaps she didn't know, perhaps Hunt was how he had eventually escaped in that bullet riddled dinghy. Without some sort of confirming information though, he had to presume Hunt had not made any effort to rescue him then.

So why now? Why this time?

His mother shifted against him, drawing his thoughts back to Alexis. When she had disappeared, been kidnapped; Hunt had appeared on the scene with stunning alacrity. So suddenly in fact that Castle had to re-adjust his perception. Had Hunt, his father, Alexis's grandfather known in advance that she was going to be taken? Allowed it to happen so that he track his ex-KGB nemesis? Used his own granddaughter as bait in a trap to get what he really wanted?

If Hunt was that cold, if that was the nature of his father's branch of the family tree, then was Castle himself bait here? Was Hunt only involved because he wanted to get to LockSat? Helping Castle survive could be nothing more than a ploy to draw LockSat and his minions out into the open for the final killing blow.

Yes Hunt was the man who had give him the copy of Casino Royale when he was only a child, there was certainly no operational reason to do that. Castle's mind was full of questions, doubts; the one person he though he could trust had gone behind his back and put him, his family, and all her friends in danger. If he couldn't trust his own wife, how could he trust a man he had met only relatively recently, but for such a brief time. Both time he had disappeared without a trace far getting what he wanted.

But again, his father had saved him during his trip to Paris. A trip that on his return Beckett had made hm promise not to repeat, no running off behind the others' back to hunt down a villain, leaving the other on the dark for protection of a career or a life. Hunt had saved him from assassins, but then Beckett had been saved from an assassin by another assassin in the woods. Having your life saved from killers, didn't mean the person saving you didn't have some ulterior motive. Didn't mean they weren't a villain themselves.

It was too much, too confusing. He didn't know who to trust. All he knew is it was probably not safe to trust anyone people would expect him to go to. He needed to change the landscape. He knew people, he could stop traveling in cabs, shift to a untraceable car instead. Not one from an known associate.

As used car, paid for in cash; not that he carried lots of cash, so a junker. One that only had to last one trip. He had calls to make.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

Deputy Commissioner Gate greeted him as he climbed out of the car, "I'm glad you called Mr Castle."

Her tone was grim, it matched his mood.

"Thank you for helping us."

She gave him a weak smile, "We had our issues, it was never personal before; now it is. My family has been attacked."

"Are we safe here?"

"There are 6 detectives, and a SWAT guarding this house Mr Castle. Every one of them picked by me and I've known the for years. This is as safe as it gets."

Castle guided his mother inside, they were both drained.

Gates however, had other priorities than rest, "I know you are tired, drained, mourning; but I need to know what's going on Mr Castle. People are dead, detectives, civilians; others are missing."

He settled on the couch in the front room, it was dimly lit with blinds and curtains draw, "I'll tell you what I can. I want the person responsible to pay."


	3. WWRD

**A/N: I was wrong. Three chapters won't finish this. It's close though. Still no beta, wouldn't subject one to this :)**

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

There had been a text, shortly after they'd arrived at the library; Rita's face had turned grim, and she had refused to talk about it. Only persistence from Beckett had finally won her a grudging, "He should be on his way." She assumed they was more to it, that there was trouble of some sort, but Rita wasn't saying.

Beckett was feeling uncomfortable, reading in the stacks at the library felt like an enormous waste of time. Castle hadn't made an appearance yet, and Kate was getting increasingly worried.

Rita didn't appear even slightly agitated, but the question clearly indicated a deterioration in patience. "Where is he Kate? We've been here two hours, it's starting to reach the point when it's dangerous for us to stay."

"This is where he would come. If he could." Beckett's heart was aching again, she really believed it, he would come here if he could.

"Perhaps, perhaps not. Maybe you just don't know him as well as you think, he certainly doesn't know you."

Beckett bristled a little at that, "Uncalled for, he trusts me."

Rita rolled her eyes, "More fool him."

Beckett was getting increasing annoyed, but other priorities existed, "What's the plan? When Castle arrives? What do we do next?"

Rita took a pause, apparently moving on from insulting her for now, "I'm working on it. This is all happening on the fly, adjustments being made; I did not expect you to take this path Kate."

"What path? Investigating? You knew I'd have a hard time stopping." She had owned it now, that her determination to keep up the chase had caused so many problems for those close to her.

Rita actually seems to be pondering her words, "I did, we did. Which is why I laid out very clear options for you. Drop it, live life, leave this behind and let me worry about LockSat; or investigate, but leave everything behind, all you person connections."

Something curious, "We?"

A pause, consideration of the response, "Hunt and I."

Apparently Rita didn't want to admit that Hunt was involved too, though she'd already told her that. They were waiting for him and Castle. At least that was what Rita had told her.

The punch line came, Rita's surprise at the path they were on was self-evident in her eyes, "The hunt was a possibility Kate, staying was a possibility too. I did not expect you to do both."

Kate knew she'd faced a choice, and had chosen another path instead, "I had a case once, a woman, Erika Albrook, she'd had the same choice. She chose to run, push everyone aside, broke off all contact. She ended up dead, alone, and didn't get the justice she sought. She gave up everything for nothing. I didn't want to repeat her mistake."

"How many other people did she get killed after she ran Beckett? She protected people, just didn't get the ending she wanted."

"I tried to protected people." In her own mind she had, tried to push Castle away, but he kept coming back. The others, Ryan, Esposito, she'd never even considered the implications of her actions and decisions on them. They were gone now, more people, freinds, that she owed justice.

Rita was having none of it, "No, you wanted both. You wanted to dig, while you kept your friends close. You wanted your cake and to eat it too. It was never going to work out. You endangered everyone and now LockSat is cleaning up your mess."

That shot a spike of heat through blood, "It's not my mess! It's all LockSat. He's the bad guy here."

"Po-Tay-Toe Po-Tar-Toe. If you'd left it all alone, you wouldn't have been harmed. Killing you if you stayed would necessitate killing Castle, and others; they'd start digging if you were killed. That would have been a lot of mess for very little benefit. Drop it and everyone would have been fine. If you'd dropped it then it would have been much cleaner."

"Letting go is just not in me." She'd been through therapy once to let it go, before she'd met Castle. Put herself through therapy again after her shooting, and dropped it shortly after she'd almost been killed again chasing after Bracken.

"People change when necessity dictates. Though Bracken never believed you would, did he? I know what he said to Castle."

"They'd have come for me if I'd run wouldn't they?" Running didn't seem like an open now, only staying and letting go; everything else seemed to have a bad ending rather than light at the end of the tunnel.

"Yes. But I could have helped you hide, you and Vikram. Given you cover, helped you disappear."

To Beckett it really sounded like that was what Rita had wanted, not for her to give up, but for her to run, perhaps why she'd sold the 'leave everyone behind' argument so much more persuasively. "Sounds like that was your preferred plan."

A sharp nod, acknowledgement, "The only one that made sense Kate. Given who you are, who you pretend to be; running and digging was the only plan I considered plausible."

"And I chose door number 3." Not the first time she'd convinced herself there were only two options, only to take a third in the end.

"Yes. And that choice has gotten a lot more people killed. Quite the mess I'm having to clean up here Beckett."

"What can I say Rita? I regret some of this. I had the best intentions." Beckett realized the softball she'd laid up there, best intentions being what they were.

Rita left it hanging. Left silence for a moment, for Beckett to consider what she had said.

"It's time to go. We've waited too long. We need to figure out a new plan. Get thinking Kate."

Rite stood and guided Kate in front of her, towards the stairwell, away from the elevator.

Beckett was leading the way down the stairs, running ideas through her brain, when she looked back over her shoulder to ask, "Where do we go from here?"

Rita had stopped one stair up, was looking over Beckett's shoulder. Beckett turned back around to see the man, just turning around the corner of the stairs a flight down. His gun was drawn.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Hunt?"

"Rita?"

It was then that Beckett felt the gun jabbed into her ribs, held by Rita, who was now standing concealed directly behind her.

Hunt looked between the two of them, at what he could see of Rita, "I presume Castle isn't here?"

The question hung, nobody responded. Hunt continued, "I suppose we all misjudged him. Again."

Beckett had a moment of uncertainly, like her mind was suddenly engulfed in a cloud, "Aren't we all on the same side?"

Two voices answered her simultaneously, "No."

Attempting to twist slightly, Beckett directed her query at her latest captor, "But you're his wife?"

Hunt laughed, as Rita whispered into her ear, "That may have been a little white lie."

Hunt gestured with his gun, pointed very close to Beckett's head. It was making her scalp itch. "Let her go Rita."

"No. I still need her."

Beckett's mind was racing, putting the pieces together, rearranging them in her head, "But you saved my life."

"She needed you to trust her." Hunt to a step closer, and the gun was jammed solidly into Beckett's ribs again. He stopped.

Confusion was clearly evident in Beckett's voice, "She killed her own men." If Rita still needed her, there was value in that, value in her being alive; almost certainly to find Castle.

Hunt filled in a black for her, "Mercenaries, good ones, but replaceable and expendable. It's not like you haven't had a killer save you from a killer before."

Rita spoke up again, with a smile in her voice, "Honestly Hunt, I didn't expect the plan to go so flawlessly, it was put together in a rush. You have to give me credit for that."

A slight narrowing of his eyes, "Just because we worked together a few times before, doesn't mean I have to give you credit for anything." There was history between them, it just wasn't marital.

Beckett's mind was still scrambling, "It was pure luck I ran into her, coincidental." There had been a lot of coincidences.

Rita whispered in her ear again, it was getting annoying, "Coincidence?"

"You were herded Beckett. A hit squad kicks down you door and opens fire on you in a hallway and they all miss? By accident? And they only had two guys blocking the back when you'd killed three only hours earlier? It was a set up. You fell for it." Hunt's weapon still hadn't wavered, Beckett was beginning to question whether he'd be willing to shoot through her to get at Rita.

He was right, she'd fallen for it. Then and today. Beckett had asked, and Rita had told her; not even hidden it. She'd been lured out of the relative safety of the precinct, and yes there had been people waiting outside for her. Not people, a person. Rita, and she'd run right into her arms. Why send a team of killers to get her when the killer could just ask her to come to them?

Everything was clicking into place now. Rita had told her enough that now it made sense in a different way, like assembling a jigsaw puzzle again after someone has told you all the pieces were upside down before.

If she'd run, decided to pursue LockSat then Rita would have helped her hide, right until she hid a bullet in her brain along with Vikram's. Castle would have been heart broken, but not at her death, rather at Rita's cover story of Kate abandoning her marriage, running off with another man, and disappearing. He'd never have suspected LockSat. If she'd stay and left the investigation up to Rita, LockSat was protected then too.

As soon as she'd trusted Rita, Kate had sealed her own fate. She'd just taken a path that had destroyed a lot of other lives too. Trying to salvage as much as she could now was the only way forward.

Right now Hunt, gun drawn and aimed, was a far bigger threat to Rita than Beckett was. It was now or never, Kate jabbed with her elbow and leaped. Down almost a full flight of stairs, passed Hunt. She rebounded off the wall and scrambled down further.

The erupting sound of gunfire behind her only drove to run faster. Beckett sped out of ground floor stairwell, bullet free. At this point, not running would draw more attention, people were everywhere, running to flee the scene. Beckett was fairly confident she'd slipped away as she exited the building, blending into the crowd as much as she could. Nobody was following her that she could see, which left her wondering how the gunfight had ended.

Kate slipped into the crowd and then a cab five blocks away.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Beckett has been sat in a corner booth at the Pershing Square Cafe for 30 minutes now. Across the street from Grand Central Station, not because being in public was safe, that was so obviously not true. Now though she was central, any direction was as good as another.

She had no intention of running, that was want they had wanted her to do all along, run and get herself killed; instead she'd stayed and gotten her friends killed. Her instincts, that she could do it all while hiding in plain sight, well they'd saved her life at the expense of costing her so much. Regret was for later, she had no time to dwell on mistakes made now.

Perhaps she don't know Castle as well as she thought, he had not appeared as she'd expected, at the New York Public Library. A good thing too, as it was a baited trap; with bait provided by and in the form of Kate, she knew that now. His father had expected him there too, and had seen him a mere hour before; though he hadn't expected him to come for Kate. She wasn't the only one who had misjudged him.

What would Rick do? Her partner of so many years, husband of not even one; what would he do in this circumstance? Her first guess, educated guess, but guess anyway, had been wrong. He had changed his pattern. Castle was connected to plenty of people, had many friends, knew a lot of guys, straight and narrow guys, and wise-guys too. All of that was basically public knowledge though, either court record, NYPD record, or splashed all over the speculative pages of his fan websites. If it was widely known, he'd avoid it; too much risk of the hunters catching up with him. It was her turn to think outside the box, typically Castle's specialty and the dose of 'difference' he had added to their investigations.

He would protect family first, he couldn't reach her; Alexis was gone according to Hunt. That left Martha, but it didn't tell Kate much more. If he went to Martha, he wouldn't stay put, he'd run; and that left the same open question: where would Castle run if an enemy knew of all his connections?

Did he have connections Kate was unaware of? That nobody was aware of? Almost certainly that she didn't know about, connections within the CIA for example; she hadn't know about Sophia Turner. Contacting the CIA for help would be suicide though, Castle would know that. Most likely his secret contacts were his most dangerous now, he'd know that; stay well away from those too.

Kate knew time was of the essence, the clock was ticking, and she didn't have the resources to track down Castle with so little to go on. Perhaps that had been her mistake all along. She'd had resources, the full resources of the NYPD, but had chosen to use them surreptitiously instead. Tried to fly under the radar to hunt one man, and that hadn't worked out very well. She had no need to fly under the radar now; she was trying to save a man, save a public figure even. No need to keep it under wraps anymore. She could call in the NYPD, let them help her, rather than use their resources in secret.

It was time to come in from the cold and be part of a team rather than a one person army. Time to call Gates, ask for help in rescuing what was left here. She'd face anger, discipline, anything rather than more death.

Beckett was looking around quickly for a payphone when she felt the vibration against her leg. She'd forgotten the burner phone. In her mad rush away from the last confrontation she'd left it in her pocket. She should have dumped it: the phone supplied by Rita, traceable; with only the people chasing her having the phone number.

Pulling out the phone she saw the number, and her heart fell.

It was her dad's cell phone.

Flipping the burner open she somehow hoped for the best, "Dad! Listen..."

The voice was panicked, trying to force words out so rapidly they were barely intelligible, "Kate. Don't do..."

There was clear sound of flesh against flesh. Then a calmer voice, cooler, colder, "Captain Beckett. You are being watched. If you ever want to see your father alive again you will do exactly what I say."


	4. WWBD

A/N: Last chapter. This whole story takes place over the span of about 5 hours.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

Beckett had barely recovered her faculties, just been told there'd be someone delivering a package in just a few moments.

"Kate honey!" She looked up as the woman approached, a Bloomingdales medium brown bag in hand. "I got you something! Let's go try it on."

Not feeling like she had much choice she was ushered by the woman towards the rest rooms at the rear of the restaurant.

A much colder voice gave her instructions, as they approached the ladies room, "Don't worry. We still need you. You get to live for now."

The woman herself was bland, tall, slim, but not model thin; she looked powerful and athletic, almost certainly another mercenary of some sort. Brown hair, nondescript clothing, a person who would blend in almost anywhere.

Pushing Beckett into the restroom, the woman slid in behind her an snapped the lock closed on the door. "Change. All your old clothes, your phone, in the bag. Everything. No underwear." It was all said plainly, no malice, no care; simply with no feeling at all.

The bag was thrust into her hands, and she stepped towards the disabled stall, more space to maneuver and perhaps to think.

"No. Here. You get no privacy."

The bag contained cropped skin tight black yoga pants and sports bra. It would all fit like it was painted on, no room to hide anything. The shoes were her size, they knew her shoe size. If she could be any more discomforted by this whole process, she was now. She could get out of this, she knew it somehow, felt it in her gut; but for now she needed to play along, look for an opening in future.

As she changed quickly the un-named woman placed her credentials, service weapon, cash, burner phone, and eventually all her clothes in the bag. All her resources were gone. It was a terrible risk, giving up her weapon like that, she knew it. No choice though. They had her father, and clearly wouldn't hesitate to get more blood on their hands.

"No underwear already? Good for you honey." The comment almost made her nauseous. Just piling insult after embarrassing insult one on top of the other.

There was no time to build a relationship, to try and generate some empathy for her position with her current guard. But she couldn't leave no attempt made, "You don't have to do this you know."

"You do not talk to me. You talk to him. Put these on."

A pair of headphones were offered, and one they were settled onto her head the cord was connected to a phone.

"Hello again. Can I call you Kate?" It was the same voice as before.

"No."

"I think I will anyway. You may call me Mr Blue. Now, down to business, are you going to be cooperative?"

Kate held her tongue. There was no point engaging this man in conversation, she just wanted her dad back. Safe. Then she could get back to searching for Castle.

"Let me be clear Kate. You answer when I ask a question. Silences will not be tolerated. I wouldn't want you to have time to chat with someone else now would I? I'm the jealous type, want to be the center of all your attention. Do you understand Kate?"

She almost wanted to growl, all her options, all her potential choices, they were being taken away from her. She did not like this at all. "Yes, yes I understand."

"Excellent. Are you ready to have an adventure Kate?"

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

Beckett was jogging, head east along 42nd street had been the instruction. Not that she was short of continual instructions given the voice in her head.

"Just in case you were wondering..."

The phone buzzed, a text message from her father: Hi Katie. Accompanied by a photo, her father, stood between two darkly clad, large men. The had their arms around his shoulders, they were not smiling.

"He's still alive, for now. And he'll stay that way if you stay on track. Your phone is GPS tracked in case you were wondering. You still with me Kate?"

The least response possible, "Yes."

Mr Blue took on a conversational tone, it almost sounded like he was trying to imitate what he thought a friendly discussion would sound like, "Good, good. Tell me about yourself Kate."

What? "No."

"Well that's not very nice is it. Which is your favorite cousin Kate? Sophia? That's my bet, we're running a pool. I know you gave her first option on the apartment."

What could she say? Acknowledge even the existence of Sophia and she became a liability. They already knew though..

There was a crunching gasping sound phone the other end of the line.

"I warned you. Silence has consequences. Your father needs a splint for his nose Kate. Hurry!"

Her dad was getting beaten out of simple site, "You are a monster."

"I am a professional Kate, nothing more. One who likes to take fewer chances than the woman you knew as Rita."

"A professional killer."

"Well obviously Kate."

At least there was one potential bright side to this whole debacle, "Is LockSat with my father?"

There was a subdued chuckle over then lone, "You do not get to meet LockSat Kate. You are so far from meeting LockSat."

She knew she had a long way to go, a single photo of a killer wasn't much. There were the drugs from Vulcan Simmons' operation. She had presumed they were a dead end, that they'd been looked over by the NYPD crime lab, the DEA, even Rita - and had led to nothing. Rita had had access to the evidence for more than a year, knew about LockSat, Simmons; Beckett had presumed it was a dead end. Now though, with Rita confirmed as working for LockSat, perhaps the lack of progress on that front was evidence of something itself. It was something to go on, to dig into if she made it out of this alive.

"Kate, turn north on 11th avenue."

She did as she was told.

"Tell me, how did you get off the Vulcan Simmons murder?"

She was incredulous, get off? She didn't do it. "I was innocent. Framed."

"Clearly Kate. But between us girls... You had means, motive, and opportunity; we set that up well. But you walked with no charge, nothing."

She had been set up, set up well certainly, but set up none the less, "Bracken framed me."

"Kate, Kate, Kate.. You know that, I know that. Bracken would know that but he's dead. There was no exculpatory evidence. Nothing. You told them Bracken did it and they let you off?"

"I didn't do it."

"The thin blue line? Is that what saved you? They let you go because you were a cop? It's not as if William admitted to setting you up."

"I Did. Not. Do. It." Sure Castle had told everyone who would listen what he had been framed by 3XK, and almost everybody, except her, had believed the evidence instead. Cold hard facts, rather than the pleas of innocence from Castle.

"How many times has a murderer told you somebody else did it? But it worked for you. I applaud you, you obviously told a very convincing story. Maybe somebody in Internal Affairs owed you a favor?"

"You're whining because your frame job didn't work?"

"Well, it would gave saved a lot of problems. An easy life is preferred. You're making me work for a living. Head east on 57th. Run."

She was heading towards the river, running, breathing harder. As she approached a couple of large men waved her over to a boat gang plank, warding off others was a smile sign: Private Party.

Before she could board she waved waved down with what appeared to be a metal detector, then another device she did not recognize. Given the outfit they had required her to put on it appeared a trifle excessive. She didn't have room to hide a Kleenex let alone a weapon. The final indignity was the pat down, though grope didn't even do it justice. Kate considered herself lucky it wasn't a cavity search.

"Board. Upper deck. Inside."

There were more men on the boat. Not many, but enough that she stuck to the course directed.

There was only one large man in the room with her when Beckett arrived, she considered taking action, but even a small scuffle would likely draw more attention. They also still had her dad.

It took a few minutes, the the boat started to move, pulling gradually out into the Hudson and leaving Manhattan and dry land behind. Kate was steaming, her potential escape routes reduced significantly.

Another few minutes passed, they were cruising south on the a river now. Then the rear door opened and she turned to face it as more men entered. Six in total.

The man at the front of the group waved at her and spoke, "Hi Katie."

She could see her father, standing just behind the man Beckett presumed was the so called Mr Blue.

"Dad!" She didn't yell, didn't think the men in dark suits would appreciate that. Kate knew she was on thin ground here, they needed her for something or she'd already be dead. Pushing her luck, well that still might not be a good idea.

"Katie. You shouldn't have..."

"Now, now, Mr Beckett; let the lady enjoy the family reunion for a moment."

Beckett stepped towards them, closer to her father, but only two steps before Mr Blue spoke again, "Let me be completely honest with you Captain Beckett. I am a man of my word. I told you that if you did what I said, you would see your father alive again. Now you have."

He turned almost casually, faced her father and she saw the glint of silver in his have as it swept forward and upward.

She heard the sound, the look in her father's eyes as it happened.

It was heartbreaking. Sickening.

Everything went black.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

Beckett regained consciousness with a groan and a knot on the back of her head. Someone had hit her, knocked the fight right out of her. Even unarmed, against multiple trained mercenaries she'd have thrown herself at them. Teeth, nails, she wanted blood so badly now. Kate was honest with herself, she'd have sought justice for Vikram, Esposito, Ryan; but now she simply wanted revenge.

"As I said Kate, I'm a man of my word. I promise you, that's unless you do as you are told. Help us finish up, well... Aunt Teresa is old, but she's got a few good years in her. Perhaps. Perhaps not. Cousin Sophia, young, enjoying life, living in your old apartment. A long happy joyful life to look forward to. Unless she doesn't. These are just a sample of how your choices her will effect others. Help us, help them. Or do not."

Choices had consequences, she'd always known that. Never though had Kate faced the consequences of decisions she had made quite so brutally.

There were tears on her face, even while unconscious they had come; tears in her voice, but words were needed. An escape was needed. Time was not on her side, "What do you want?"

"What I want is simple Kate, to clean up a mess you spilled all over my path. I'm a really big fan of Mr Castle, more Derrick Storm than Nikki Heat to be honest, but I enjoy his work. I'd like to meet him Kate. Shake his hand. Pat him on the back. Maybe get an autograph."

"No." She would not help them. Not to get to Castle. "He doesn't know anything anyway."

"I don't believe you. On either point. You will help."

No, there were things that were too much, no matter however much her plans had failed her, "I am not helping you kill Castle."

"Would FaceTime suffice? Or would you prefer I have cousin Sophia brought here? I think here. It's just so much more visceral in person."

She needed to buy time to think, plan; there had to be some way out of this mess. Kate hadn't had an opportunity to call anyone since been called by Mr Blue. Had no weapon, no expectation of rescue; but she was not a quitter.

He shook his head, "Perhaps I should have just cut pieces off your father, but I wanted to demonstrate my resolve. I see you need another demonstration."

Turning to one of his guards he gave instructions, "Have a team pick up Sophia."

At that moment a phone began buzzing, he reached into his pocket pulled it out and frowned at it. An unexpected call though Kate, hopefully to her benefit.

"Hold that." He walked away to the rear of the boat and answered the call.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

Mr Blue returned from the rear of the boat, where he had completed his apparently short conversation. "Well Captain Beckett, it seems Mr Castle has made things rather more complex for us."

Kate almost attempted to struggle to her feet, but the smallest twitch was met by more attentive glances and slight stiffening of the forms of her four guards. Rick, Rick had done something; that meant he was alive. He was ok. So much lost, but not him.

She whispered her words, knowing they would be heard clearly, "He's ok?"

"He's temporarily out of our reach; and that means we don't need you anymore."

She started to move, but far too slowly.

Saw the slight nod.

Saw the muzzle flash.


	5. Epilogue

A/N: Some requests for an Epilogue to wrap up. Basically filling in some of the background I'd just kept in my head, not on the page. I liked my ending, but...

XxXxXxXxXxX

It was a year ago today that he'd lost her, Castle stood beside the grave, placed the flowers gently down before standing back up and putting his arm around his mother.

Alexis had been gone a year. A whole year.

Life had never returned to normal, not even after returning home. Protective custody had been a burden on them both, right when his mother's career had been picking back up she'd been required to disappear from the public eye for three months.

Gates reached out to her contacts, within the NYPD, and further afield; had been placed in charge of the local effort of a specially convened task force. Castle had been in protective for the first three months, but once the investigation grew big enough, had dug further; once the cat was out of the bag there had been no need. Targeting Castle or his mother would have been a waste of time.

Ryan and Esposito's death had quickly been connected to the Irish mob, though no individual culprit had been identified even a year later. Esposito was presumed to be collateral damaged in the murder of Ryan. Clearly, it was a false trail, Castle knew that, explained it to Gates. LockSat was behind it, but had constructed a false story, a patsy to take the blame. A murder by the mob, of an officer who had formerly been undercover with them was all to plausible. It was a risk Ryan had known about every day, every cop knew about; it was a rare occurrence, buy they faced the risk of revenge with eyes open.

Lanie's killer was never identified, the weapon was still at the scene but untraceable. The NYPD had no knowledge of how the assailant had managed to enter the medical examiners office. In comparisons to federal lock-up though, the city morgue probably hadn't been much of a challenge.

Alexis. Castle always had to take a steadying breath when he though of her. Her death had been tied back to enemies of Dino Scarpella, who had been found dead in his offices with several known associates. Another family had started a war, killed Dino and was targeting those he trusted. Castle thought his name being on a mob hit list was a little implausible, but it seemed more believable than being on secret multi-national drug syndicate hit list.

What were the odds? Various mob families all deciding to take revenge on the same day? A bizarre coincidence? Without someone to add the secret LockSat ingredient the murders would likely have been treated as just what their framers wanted them to be viewed as: unrelated.

A year later, and they still didn't know who LockSat was, nor where Beckett was.

Kate was simply gone. Vanished. Her father too. They had found her credentials, side arm, and a burner phone in a dumpster 3 blocks from grand central station. The burner phone had only calls to other burner phones, one in particular found on the body of an unidentified woman at the New York Public library.

Jim Beckett had left the office suddenly midday, and never returned. He'd received a call and walked out without explanation. The call had come from one of the same burner phones that had called Kate's own burner. That phone last pinged off a cell tower on the west side of Manhattan just hours after she had left the precinct. It had never been found, or pinged again.

Castle really didn't know what to make of it. She'd left him, but he'd retained some hope. Now she was gone. Had she gone on the run, taking her father with her to protect him? Much like Castle had gone straight to his mother to ensure her safety? Well he'd tried to call Beckett first, but she'd left her phone at the precinct. He still remembered the last time he'd heard her voice, her voicemail had picked up.

They'd found a handful of surveillance pictures that captured her image, entering the New York Public library, in the company of the woman later found dead with the burner phone. That woman had been shot, multiple times; not by Kate's service weapon. There was more blood at the scene, male, but it didn't get any hits in the system.

A picture from later that day showed her jogging, wearing headphones, and new clothes; she was alone and moving away from Grand Central, and the dumpster where her burner and service weapon had been thrown away. They hadn't found anything else, but hadn't really known where to look.

If Beckett had run, she'd probably stay gone until LockSat was brought down; by her singular avenging hand if she got her wish. A year and they were no closer to that goal, with a NYPD and federal task force involved. He held out little hope of Kate returning anytime soon.

Worse, she may already be dead, but he didn't know; would hold out hope for her to get what she wanted.

It just wouldn't be him.

Dead, or simply missing; he couldn't wait forever. He'd never stop loving her, but his mother had yelled at him this very morning. Stop wallowing, Alexis would want you to live life, not to mourn forever. She was right. She also hadn't mentioned Beckett's name.

It was time to move forward.


End file.
